How is meter different from rhythm in poetry?

In poetry, rhythm and metre are distinct concepts, though they are frequently conflated.

Rhythm refers to the patterned recurrence of specific language features—usually sound—within a poem. It is a fundamental, universal quality of poetry that involves movement, repetition, and pattern, arising from the poem's nature as a temporal structure. Rhythm can be found in both metrical verse and free verse, where it often approximates the natural cadence of speech through syntactical patterning and the repetition of words or sounds.1

Metre, by contrast, is not a requirement for poetry but rather an abstract method used to organize rhythm. It functions as a formal framework that arranges elements like stress, duration, or syllable count into specific, regular patterns. While metre provides a structural design, the actual rhythm of a poem emerges from the interaction between that metrical pattern and the other linguistic features of the work.12

In short, metre is a specific, formal tool for organizing rhythm, whereas rhythm is the broader, essential movement of the poem itself.1